Racer X Race Report: Anaheim III

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The good Ryan Villopoto finally showed up in Anaheim after two rough rounds in the unofficial capital of supercross. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider only carded fifth and seventh place finishes the last time he raced in Angel Stadium, but he was on it from the start of the main event for Anaheim 3, marching off with the $1500 Spike Holeshot and leading all 20 laps, taking his second win of the season in Monster Energy AMA Supercross an FIM World Championship.

If it weren’t for the rough races in Anaheim previous, RV2 might be the supercross points leader. Instead, he sits just three points back, behind the ever-consistent San Manuel Yamaha rider, Josh Hill, who stood second for most of the race but lost bits of time throughout the race to Villopoto. He ended up second again, moving him into a tie atop the series with Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, who fell while battling for third and finished fourth.

While Villopoto inched away up front, Hill held back a pair of Honda riders, GEICO Powersports’ Kevin Windham and Honda Red Bull Racing’s Davi Millsaps. Each made a run at Hill, and then eventually Dungey mounted a charge from fifth. By the seventh lap of the race, it looked like all four riders were waiting for their spot to pounce. Dungey started making moves, getting by Millsaps and going after Windham. He shadowed the veteran for a few laps but then lost the back end of his bike turning onto the start straight. Dungey did a 360 spin and got passed back by Millsaps. He got back around the Honda rider for fourth, but was out of contention for the podium.

Late in the race, Windham made one last run at Hill, but ultimately came up short. Hill now pulls into a tie with Dungey for the points lead, with Villopoto right behind them as the series heads east for the first time, racing in Indianapolis next weekend.

The West Region Lites Championship then goes on hiatus, with the points tightened up quite a bit. GIECO Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard collected his second win of the season over DNA Star Racing Yamaha’s Broc Tickle and Lucas/Troy Lee Honda’s Wil Hahn. Hahn grabbed the Spike holeshot, but Canard quickly got around him. Points leader Jake Weimer then challenged Hahn for second, but he washed out in a corner and crashed, and by the time he got his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki re-fired, 20 riders had gone past him. Weimer worked his way all the way back up to eighth, preserving a gap of 14 in the series standings over Canard.

Hahn admitted he got a little tight riding with the lead for the first time this season, while Canard was relieved to rebound from a first-lap crash suffered last weekend in San Diego. Canard is now slated to ride the injured Andrew Short’s Honda CRF450R in either Indianapolis or Atlanta, depending on how testing goes this week.

In the supercross class, last week’s third-place finisher Ivan Tedesco had a good start on his Valli Motorsports Yamaha and stood sixth early, but he crashed on the first lap and went back to last. He finished just outside of the top ten. Grant Langston was also with the leaders early but a crash a few laps later knocked him to the back, too. Jason Lawrence returned to racing and ran sixth early in his heat race until a crash, which knocked him into the LCQ. A crash off the start there ended his bid to make the main.

CBS Sports will broadcast the AMA Supercross class Sunday, February 14 at Noon EST. SPEED will broadcast the AMA Supercross Lites class on Sunday, February 14 at 6:00 p.m. EST.